MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - The refusal to allow Russian journalists into Ukraine shows that Kiev is afraid its brainwashing campaign will come to an end, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday.
Last week, several film crews from Russia's REN-TV, as well as journalists from the Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper were deported from Ukraine.
"This is just another step directed at depriving millions of Ukrainian residents access to information that is objective, realistic, and truthful," said Konstantin Dolgov, a diplomat for the Russian Foreign Ministry on human rights issues.
Dolgov added that Ukrainians were being denied "information on what's currently happening in the country, and on the crude breaches of human rights, which are continuing."
"The authorities are simply afraid that their propaganda campaign, their brainwashing ... will be destroyed by information in the Russian mass media," he said.
Dolgov said that Moscow would continue to defend the rights of Russian-speakers in Ukraine via diplomatic channels.
"Such actions demand an adequate and harsh response from international organizations, including by media freedom representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Such moves deserve the strictest possible response. And we expect [OSCE media representative] Dunja Mijatovic to react," Dolgov said.
He said the move clearly shows that the Kiev government's commitment to human rights and international obligations is "nothing but words."
Ukraine is split into a predominantly Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west.
As ties with Moscow plunged to record lows over Crimea's reunification with Russia, the incumbent Ukrainian government in Kiev has taken a series of measures to limit citizens' access to Russian-language media.
The country's media watchdog claimed that a pro-Moscow angle in the coverage of events in Ukraine poses a threat to Ukraine's security.
In line with the move, a court in Kiev is currently hearing a motion to impose a permanent nationwide ban on four major Russian TV channels with global coverage.
The OSCE earlier condemned the move as "a form of censorship," saying that "national security concerns should not used at the expense of media freedom."
